What on earth is she wittering on about, I hear you cry! Well, simply that in our modern crazy-busy world it’s often impossible to find the time to read a classic because, frankly, some of them are just *soooo* big! Dickens, Dostoevsky, Trollope, Tolstoy – all produced some amazing books, many of which are my favourites; but they are, honestly, doorsteps. Now I love a brick of a book as much as the next reader, but sometimes I struggle to engage mentally with one, particularly when I’m going through a busy phase at work. However, a useful solution is at hand…. 🙂
I review books from the lovely publisher Alma regularly on the Ramblings, and their Evergreens series of affordable classics is a joy. These feature some truly great authors, from Woolf through Mansfield and back to Austen and the Brontes and so on. The books are always beautiful and often have extra supporting material. Plus they publish pretty new editions of my beloved Dostoevsky on a regular basis so that has to be good…. (note the editions in that *large* TBR pile!)
However, Alma have come up with an interesting new series entitled “101-page Classics” which features books of, you’ve guessed it, 101 pages in length! Now 101 pages is a very manageable size – I can read something that long in one go usually – and so I think this is a fabulous idea! There are 12 titles on the list so far, and the authors are a very nice selection, including Chekhov, Wilkie Collins, Dostoevsky, Emily Dickinson and Italo Svevo – so plenty of variety. Alma have been kind enough to provide a review copy of Maupassant’s “Boule de Suif” which I plan to read and review very soon, and there’s a serious risk of me wanting to start a special shelf for the 101 books…
Here are a few cover images of some of the forthcoming books – do check these out, especially if you’re nervous of a big fat chunky classic, or embarking on 800 pages from an author new to you – a 101-page Classic could be just the thing to help out…
Aug 28, 2018 @ 11:19:23
I suppose they had to be creative with font size, margins, blank pages, etc, to get them all to conform to that length! Great idea, though. I’m just off on a trip and taking a Trollope doorstop with me…
Aug 28, 2018 @ 14:08:28
LOL! I guess so! They’ll be just right for when I’m off on my train travels – I like to take a decent read when I e.g. go off to London for a day, but as I’m having to carry it round all day it doesn’t want to be too big….
Aug 28, 2018 @ 11:20:22
These are great. I have a hard time with chunkster classics. Just holding them is hard at times. I generally get them on audible now but these 101’s are great. Thanks for sharing. Wonder if they’ll make it to Oz.
Aug 28, 2018 @ 14:07:09
That’s a good point about holding them – bigger books can be a bit of a pain (particularly a tightly bound paperback). I hope these make it down under!
Aug 28, 2018 @ 21:36:16
Me too. Lovely books.
Aug 28, 2018 @ 12:00:01
Oh I do so know what you mean by big classics needing time, and energy. I don’t seem to have the required time, head space etc for those biggies these days. I would love to re-read Middlemarch one day, and Daniel Deronda, Vanity Fair, some of my Trollopes, but the size puts me off. So too does the print size in many editions. So these Alma editions do appeal, I particularly note the Wilkie Collins, I do love his storytelling.
Aug 28, 2018 @ 14:06:26
No, I’m the same – I used to sail through big books in my teens and twenties. But I think I didn’t read so deeply then which has a lot to do with it – and I agree about the print size too. These are *very* appealing – and Wilkie Collins is great, so one for you…. 😉
Aug 28, 2018 @ 12:12:38
Lovely! I do enjoy a nice skinny book 🙂
Aug 28, 2018 @ 14:05:16
Me too! Although I love a chunkster at the right time, I like to whizz through a skinny book too!
Aug 28, 2018 @ 12:35:41
Karen unlike me when you read book you read it from cover to cover and that’s what scares some people from reading titans of literature.
I wonder if Alma new books will look like Melville novella?
Aug 28, 2018 @ 14:04:48
LOL! Yes, I don’t like to waste a page! Alma’s books are always very pretty with nice covers and there are quite a number of interesting looking titles. I have a couple of Melville House Art of the Novella books and they’re not quite like those. They don’t have the uniform covers, for a start! 🙂
Aug 28, 2018 @ 14:07:08
seduced by the covers my friend
Aug 28, 2018 @ 14:09:21
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Aug 28, 2018 @ 13:26:21
I actually do better with big books at busy times; I think because I know I’ll be spending enough time with them to get to know them well, even if I only read a chapter or two at a time.
Aug 28, 2018 @ 14:03:40
Oh, that’s interesting! I’m kind of dipping into big books just now and feeling very calm about it because I’m *not* busy! We do all read differently don’t we?
Aug 28, 2018 @ 17:17:05
That sounds an attractive idea – enough length to give me a chance to get into the story without feeling I need to invest weeks in the book.
Aug 28, 2018 @ 17:43:29
I think it’s a great idea. I love the thought of encouraging people to read classics who might not be comfortable with a chunkster and it’s a great way to be introduced to a new (old!) author!
Aug 28, 2018 @ 18:40:14
I love a fat book and I’ll quiver with horror at having to read your review of B de S, having “done” it for A-level (we still call our cat ‘bifteck d’ours’ on occasion, though, for little reason, which means we must both have read it! Enjoy, though, really!
Aug 28, 2018 @ 19:50:49
Oh dear – studying something at school can make you love it for life or kill it forever. Orwell is the former for me, and Cider with Rosie the latter… And yes, I’m enjoying a fairly fat book at the moment!
Aug 29, 2018 @ 08:13:16
Hardy’s “Far from the Madding Crowd” (O) and “The Return of the Native” (A) and Alain-Fournier’s “Le Grand Meaulnes” the former, Maupassant and Browning the latter!
Aug 28, 2018 @ 20:54:46
Sounds like a great way to get that Classics fix!
Aug 28, 2018 @ 21:04:38
Definitely! I often want to read a classic but can’t fit in a bigger one, so the perfect solution!
Aug 29, 2018 @ 13:59:52
I’ve been especially drawn to shorter books this year due to my desire to complete A Century of Books in one year. I’ve never heard of these editions and am interested! Thanks for the information!
Aug 29, 2018 @ 14:33:37
They’d definitely be helpful if you need to tick a Classics box quickly… 🤣🤣
Aug 29, 2018 @ 16:24:28
Noooooo…. Please don’t tempt me!!!
Aug 29, 2018 @ 19:00:48
Bad influence – moi???
Aug 29, 2018 @ 17:53:26
Are they the complete books? If so, it sounds like a great idea!
Aug 29, 2018 @ 19:00:14
As far as I’m aware, yes – which is ideal for a short classic fix! 🙂
Aug 29, 2018 @ 20:58:59
Oh, yes, a shelf: must do! And what a lovely concept, to balance out all those which run closer to Devils!
Aug 30, 2018 @ 09:15:16
I think so – themed shelves *are* rather lovely (the one I have with all my BLCCs on looks very pretty). And they do balance a chunkster nicely!
Aug 30, 2018 @ 18:06:20
So are these abridged?
Aug 30, 2018 @ 19:21:08
Not as far as I’m aware no. They’re just shorter works by authors who often wrote longer works (or in the case of Chekhov, not so long…!)
Aug 30, 2018 @ 20:10:12
Good to know! Thanks
Aug 30, 2018 @ 22:21:57
Welcome!
Aug 31, 2018 @ 14:55:12
OMG yes! Skinny book therapy is totally a thing! I shall have to check these out for those busy periods where my mind won’t settle down properly to work through a paving slab-sized book.
Aug 31, 2018 @ 16:00:55
Definitely! I’m just coming out of a thick and intense read so I do need something lighter I think!
Sep 01, 2018 @ 10:40:56
Devils has a very leisurely opening (unlike, say, Crime and Punishment), but it’s worth persevering with, as it’s a great read and has some of Dostoevsky’s most comic scenes and characters. I can’t imagine how you’re able to do all that wonderful reading, but I hope you enjoy this particular translation when you have time (!!) to get round to it. I would be particularly interested to see how you think it compares with the Pevear and Volokhonsky Demons. Anyway, I’m not the greatest correspondent, but thanks so much for all your entertaining blogs and comments.
Sep 02, 2018 @ 10:21:42
Thanks so much for your comment, Roger! If I’m honest, I tend to avoid P/V translations like the plague, as I’ve had some very bad experiences with them and I’m not convinced by the hype and by their working methods. I rather fancy sinking into Demons soon, because it’s probably the last major Dostoevsky I haven’t read. If only there were more hours in the day! 🙂
Nov 17, 2018 @ 06:45:16